Then he stood listening, for "Ahoy!" came from quite a different direction, and then there was a reply from somewhere else, closely followed by a shrill whistle.
"That"s not from the prisoner," said Aleck, growing more excited. "The sailors are coming back. Are they coming here, after all? Well, I"m sorry for Eben, but that poor fellow must be rescued, and I shall have to--"
Aleck did not say what, but hurried along the shelf again, startled by the sound of falling stones, and the next minute he caught sight of the smuggler"s descending feet, and then the fierce-looking fellow dropped lightly before him and caught him by the arm.
"They saw me," he panted, breathlessly, "and have been hot on my track-- I couldn"t dodge them anyhow--quite surrounded. Look here, Master Aleck--you know what it means if they get me--flogging now for escaping!
You don"t want me to be took?"
"No, Eben; but--"
"Don"t talk, my lad. I"m hard set. You"re a gentleman, and won"t betray a poor fellow?"
"No, but I won"t help to keep that poor young officer a prisoner."
"Ah, you"ve found out then--you know where he is?"
"Then it is true that you"ve got him shut up somewhere?"
"Somewhere?" cried the man, sharply, in a hoa.r.s.e whisper. "Then you haven"t found the place?"
"No," said Aleck, frankly, "only guessed that he is somewhere hidden, and keeps calling out."
"Look here, Master Aleck, it is true, and if I swear that as soon as all is safe I"ll help you to set him free and put him where he can get back to his ship, will you swear, too, that you"ll never tell where our stores are?"
"I"m not going to swear anything, Eben."
The man made a fierce gesture, and the lad felt that he was at the fellow"s mercy, where a sharp thrust of the hand would send him headlong down, most likely to his death. But he did not shrink.
"I promise you I won"t betray you, Eben," he said, "if you give me your word to set the poor young fellow free."
"Come on, then--if there"s time," said the smuggler, hoa.r.s.ely. "I can hear "em coming on fast. Now, then, I"m going to show you what all us chaps have sworn on our lives never to let out. Quick! I know you"ve got plenty of game in you, my lad. I"m going to jump down there."
He pointed down over the edge of the shelf as he spoke.
"Are you mad?" said Aleck, hoa.r.s.ely, feeling that the man must be to propose what seemed to be like a leap into the next world.
"Not me, my lad. Look! I trust you to come after me sharp--before the cutter"s men see you. Come, you won"t shrink now?"
"He came along this way, I"ll swear," came from overhead, quite loudly, and a whistle rang out again.
Eben Megg seized Aleck"s arm with his left hand, and with his right caught the lad"s fingers for a moment in a firm grip.
"Jump just as I do. I"ll be ready to catch you."
Aleck nodded, and then felt ready to shut his eyes, for the man gave one glance upward where a loud murmur of voices could be heard, and then stepped close to the edge of the shelf, placed his feet close together, drew himself up stiffly, and then made a little jump, just sufficient to let himself drop, as it were, clear of the rock, his back being visible just for a moment, and then there was a slight pat coming from below.
Aleck stood with his heart seeming to rise to his throat as if to choke him, while he listened intently for the sound of a falling body loosening a little avalanche of stones.
But all was still below, while above there was the trampling of feet, and a voice said, loudly:
"Are you sure he came this way?"
"Quite, sir. He must have dodged round by that great block of stone."
"Forward then," cried the first voice, while from below where he stood came a low, hoa.r.s.e whisper:
"Now, then, jump!"
For a moment Aleck felt that it was too much. Coward or no coward, he dared not make such a leap in the dark as that. Then, setting his teeth, he stepped close to the edge of the shelf, placed his feet exactly as he had seen the smuggler prepare to drop, and then, with his elbows pressed close to his sides and his open hands raised to a level with his chest, he took the little leap, with the opposite side of the rift seeming to rush upward past his staring eyes, while he dropped what seemed, from the time it lasted, to his overstrained nerves and imagination a tremendous depth--in reality about seven feet--before his feet came flat upon the rock and a strong arm caught him across the chest like a living protecting bar.
Aleck"s eyes turned dim, and the rock face in front spun round before him as he felt himself pressed backward--a few feet beneath what seemed to be a rugged stone eave, which protected him and his companion from being seen by anyone who should peer over the edge, while the next moment the smuggler"s lips were close to his ear and the breath came hot as the man whispered:
"I never knowed a lad before who dared to jump like that. Come on, Master Aleck; I"d trust you with anything now."
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
Aleck resigned himself to the smuggler"s guiding hand, which gripped his arm tightly, and as the giddy sensation began to pa.s.s off and he saw more clearly, he grasped the position in which he stood--to wit, that he was upon another ledge of rock, apparently another stratum of the great slowly-built-up ma.s.ses which formed the mighty cliffs, one, however, which had been eaten away more by the action of time, so that it was much more deeply indented, while the upper stratum from which he had dropped overlapped considerably, save in one place, where this lower shelf projected in a rocky tongue, which resembled a huge bracket, and a cold shiver ran through the lad as he saw now fully the perilous nature of his leap.
"Haven"t found out the way yet," said Eben, coolly; "but when they do they won"t find out which way we"ve come. What do you say, sir?"
"Oh, no!" said Aleck, trying to conceal a shiver. "But what a horrible leap!"
"Nothing when you"re used to it, sir. All right if you keep your head, and safe from being found out."
"But suppose anyone were on the opposite side?"
"No good to suppose that, master. Nothing ever comes there but the gulls and mews, with a few sea parrots. n.o.body could get there without being let down by a line, and the birds never nest there, so it"s quite safe. Now, then, if you"re ready we"ll go down."
"Go down?"
"Yes, my lad; this is the way down to the sh.o.r.e."
"With an opening to the sea?" said Aleck, eagerly, for his curiosity was beginning to overcome the tension caused by the shock his nerves had suffered.
The smuggler laughed.
"Well, you"re asking a good deal, youngster," he said, "but it"s of no use for me to play at hide-and-seek with you now. Yes; there"s a way open to the sea just for "bout an hour at some tides. Then it"s shut up again by the water, and that"s what makes it so safe."
Half a dozen more questions were bubbling up towards his lips, but the smuggler made a movement and Aleck felt that the best way to satisfy his curiosity would be to remain silent and use his eyes as much as he could.
He was gazing sharply round, to see nothing that suggested a way down to the sea but the great gully beneath his feet, when he became aware of the fact that Eben was watching him quietly with a dry, amused look in his eyes.
"Well," he said, "can you find it now?" Aleck shook his head.
"Come along, then."
The smuggler took a few steps along beside the great wall on their right, and Aleck followed closely, till his companion stopped short and faced him.